Rising demand for regional advertising and on-demand television came to the rescue of STV (STVG) in the first half. National airtime sales slid 1 per cent, but the Scottish TV broadcaster's adjusted operating profits jumped 28 per cent to £11m.
Both digital and regional airtime revenues soared by about a quarter, as its online catch-up service STV Player gained traction and the group's Edinburgh and Glasgow channels drew an average of 0.7m viewers a month: close to a third of consumers in their broadcast area. The upshot was a 2 per cent rise in consumer turnover to about £53m. Management expects to launch three more city TV channels in early 2017.
The budding production business secured commissions for second seasons of Safeword and Prison: First & Last 24 Hours with ITV2 and Sky, respectively, doubling its sales to £3.5m. Moreover, UKTV has tasked it with making a series of The Dressing Room. However, management guided towards a 6 per cent decline in national airtime sales in the third quarter, with the comparative period having benefited from the Rugby World Cup.
Broker Numis trimmed its forecasts and now expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £20m for the full year, giving EPS of 40.8p (up from £19.1m and 38.9p in 2015).
| STV (STVG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 368p | MARKET VALUE: | £152m | |
| TOUCH: | 368-378p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 520p | LOW: 300p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.0% | PE RATIO: | 10 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET DEBT: | £29.1m | |
| Half-yearto 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 53.6 | 6.8 | 13.7 | 3.0 |
| 2016 | 56.2 | 10.2 | 21.2 | 4.0 |
| % change | +5 | +50 | +55 | +33 |
Ex-div: 8 Sep Payment: 7 Oct *Negative shareholders' funds | ||||
